Bobbin marking mechanism



Nov. 27, 1945. H. LAMBERT BOBBIN MARKING MECHANISM Filed Jan. 13, 1945 2Sheets-Sheet 1 *N Wm vm IN V EN TOR.

NQV. 27, 1945. LAMBERT BOBBIN MARKING MECHANISM Filed Jan. 13, 1945 2Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

Patented Nov. 27, 1945 BOBBIN MARKING MECHANISM Harry Lambert, Methuen,Mass, assignor to Pacific Mills, Lawrence, Mass., a corporation ofMassachusetts Application January 13, 1945, Serial No. 572,690

Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in mechanism for marking onfilled bobbins. More particularly it provides mechanism for placing anidentification mark on each filled bobbin of a winding machine prior tothe doing thereof. thereby to identify each bobbin as having yarn of aparticular variety or-character, or as having some other quality orattribute making it desirable to have it visually distinguishable fromother filled bobbins with which it maybecome associated, or readilyidentified as a part of a particular lot or run of yarn.

It has been customary heretofore to manually mark filled bobbins foridentification purposes, and in the case of winding machines havinghorizontally disposed bobbins, the marking has been accomplished by aperson, usually a girl,

whose sole duty has been to mark by hand the individual filled bobbinswhich have been dofied into boxes at the winding machine. This priormanual marking usually consisted of one or more axially extending chalklines which frequently become obscured in subsequent operations if abobbin happens to be positioned with its mark on the rear side of thebobbin as viewed.

It is among th objects of my present invention to provide a markingmeans, operative in conjunction with a winding machine, for applying anidentification mark to each bobbin prior to dofiing of the bobbin.

Another object is the provision of means to apply automatically to eachbobbin of a winding machine an identification mark which will be visiblein every position of the bobbins.

A further object is to associate bobbin marking means with operatingparts of the builder feeler mechanism of a winding machine whereby themarking means may be responsive to movements of the builder feelermechanism.

Still another object is to provide bobbin marking mechanism in the formof an attachment which may be applied readily to presently availablewinding machines.

It is, moreover, my purpose and object generally to improve upon priorprocedures for identifying filled bobbins.

The mentioned objects and results may be attained with a chalk-carryingmember which is movable against the tension of a spring, into markingrelation with a rotating bobbin of a winding machine, and which normallyis held by said spring out of engagement with the bobbin. Means isprovided on the regular builder feeler mechanism of the winding machinefor engagement with the chalk-carrying member during the final travel ofsaid mechanism in direction filling the bobbin, thereby to actuate thechalkcarrying member for a marking of the filled bobbin prior to itsdofling. Also during the said final travel of the builder feelermechanism, the means thereon for engaging the chalk-carrying member isgradually disengaged from said member to permit said members returnmovement by the spring after an identification mark has been applied toa bobbin.

It is intended that the patent shall cover, by suitable expression inthe appended claims, whatever features of patentable novelty exist inthe invention disclosed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary elevation of a winding machine equipped with abobbin-marking mechanism embodying features of my invention, the casingbeing broken away to show interior operating parts;

Figure 2 is a similar view but showing less of the winding machine andhaving the bobbinmarking mechanism in marking relation to yarn on thebobbin;

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view on line 33 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view approximately on line 4-4 of Figure2; and

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the chalkcarrying yoke, showingthe spring clip for holding the chalk in the yoke.

Referring to the drawings, the winding machine therein shown is a Wellknown type which may be considered representative of winding machines ingeneral to which my present invention is applicable. The particular unitillustrated accommodates a single bobbin i0 disposed horizontallytherein but a series of these units ordinarily are aligned side by sidewith as many of theunits in the series as may be desired for anyparticular installation.

Each unit comprises a box l2 with associated casing l4 within which thedriving and operating mechanism of the unit is housed. The drivenheadstock spindle It extends out of the box [2 through its wall 13,above the casing l4, and carries at its outer end the cup-shaped memberl8 which operatively engages the head end of the bobbin and which isretractible to release the bobbin in the dofiing operation. The oppositeend of bobbin i0 is rotatably engaged in the relatively fixed tailstock20 which is mounted on the parallel rods 22, 32 fixed at their oppositeends respectively in the wall l3 of the box and in the remote end walll5 of the casing l4.

The yarn 26 comes to the bobbin in through suitable relatively fixedyarn guides, not shown, and thence through the movable yarn guide 28whose movement distributes the yarn along the bobbin as the latterrotates and draws the yarn from its source. As herein represented, theyarn guide 28 is carried on a carriage 30 which is slidably mounted onthe rod 22 and on a lower rod 24 similar to the rods 22, 32. Alsocarried by carriage 3D is the feeler arm 34 which is pivotally mountedat 36 on the carriage and carries at its end the feeler wheel 38 inposition for peripheral engagement with the bobbin or with yarn whichhas been wound on the bobbin. A sprocket chain 40 has connection at 42with carriage 30 so that the carriage moves in unison with the chain,and a pawl and ratchet mechanism, which is within casing M at the sideof box I2, is adapted to advance the chain intermittently in theclockwise direction of its sprockets whenever the pawl is released forratchet engagement, the pawl being mounted on an oscillating shaft sothat it has continual oscillating movement. However, the pawl is held ina position out of operative engagement with the ratchet excepting attimes when an actuating bar 44 is depressed to release the pawl. Thisbar 44 extends longitudinally within casing l4 and is pivotallysupported at 45 on rod 22, a suitable spring, not shown, tending tomaintain it yieldingly in its elevated position holding the pawl out ofratchet engaging position.

Feeler arm 34 has a projection 35 overlying bar 44, in position todepress the bar, thereby to release the main-advancing pawl, wheneverthe feeler arm 34 is rocked about its pivot 36 due to feeler wheel 38riding on a filled portion of the bobbin.

The illustrated winder operates to fill a bobbin by building the yarn onthe bobbin up to the desired maximum diameter at the head end, andgradually working toward the opposite end until the bobbin is filled,the axial feed being intermittent under the control of the feeler Wheel38, acting through feeler arm 34 and actuating bar 44.

When carriage 3D has moved to the limit of its travel to the right, andbobbin ID has been filled with yarn, two clutch mechanisms, not shown,come into action, one operating to retract the headstock spindle 16 todon the filled bobbin and to permit an empty bobbin to take its place,and the other operating to reverse the direction of travel of chain 46,thereby to return carriage 30 to its initial position at the left handlimit of its travel.

According to my present invention, an identification mark is to beapplied automatically to each bobbin before it leaves the windingmachine. As embodied on the particular winding machine illustrated, mymarking means comprises an arm 48 swingably mounted on a stud 50 whichprojects from the tailstock 20. Also rotatably mounted on stud 50 is thetoothed wheel 52 which is shown secured to arm 48 by screw 54 so thatthe arm and Wheel act as a unit and any angular movement of arm 48causes equal angular movement of wheel 52, about stud 58. A lug 56projecting from the tailstock 25 has a rubber or other cushioningelement 58 thereon in position to limit clockwise swinging movement ofarm 48, said arm having a finger 49 thereon for engaging cushion 58, anda coil spring 60 being connected to finger 49 and tending yieldingly tomaintain the finger against cushion 58.

The arm 48 has shape whereby its free end portion extends along butspaced above the bobbin l0, terminating somewhat short of the head endof the bobbin. At its free end, the arm is equipped with a yoke 62within which are mounted the chalk masses 64, 66, retained in the yokeby a suitable spring clip 68 engaging between the chalk masses.Obviously a single piece of chalk might be employed, or more than twochalk masses might be used, by modifying the holding yoke to suit anyparticular requirement. As herein shown, each chalk mass 64, 66 has itsend which is toward bobbin I0 tapered to provide a marking tip at 65 and61 respectively. Also, as shown, the end portion 69 of arm 48 is aseparate piece pivotally mounted at 10 on arm 48, so that the chalkmasses 64, 65 can yield once they are brought into marking contact withthe yarn on the rotating bobbin 10. A lug 12 on end piece 49 engagesunder the arm 48 in the elevated position of the arm thereby limitingcounter-clockwise movement of the end piece about its pivot 10.

Mounted on tailstock 29, below the toothed wheel 52 is a cam plate 14.The plate conveniently may have the generally hook shape as representedwith the inclined cam surface 16 on the inside of the hook end, theplate being adjustably mounted with cam surface 16 exposed toward thehead end of the machine.

Bobbin-marking actuation of arm 48 is effected by a rack member 18 whichis shown pivotally mounted at on a bracket 82 which is secured at 84 onthe depending part or" carriage 3D. A coil spring 86 has one endsuitably anchored on carriage 36 and its other end connected to rackmember 18 at a location whereby the spring tends yieldingly to swing therack counter-clockwise about its pivot 80. However, a lug 88 on therack, engaging bracket 82, limits counter-clockwise swinging oi the rackso that the spring 86 normally holds the rack in generally horizontalposition with its teeth, which are at its upper edge, in a plane to meshwith the teeth of toothed wheel 52 when carriage 30 approaches the limitof its travel to the right. This inter-meshing of rack member 18 withtoothed wheel 52 during the final travel of carriage 30 to the right,causes counter-clockwise swinging of arm 48 until the chalk masses 64,66 come into marking engagement with the yarn on rotating bobbin I0thereby to apply circumferential identification marks which may be ofany desired color or combination of colors according to the colors ofthe chalk masses selected for use.

During the final travel of carriage 30 to the right, a projecting pin 90on rack member 18 rides down the inclined cam surface 76 of cam plate14, gradually swinging the rack member clockwise about its pivot 88 andultimately disengaging the rack member '18 from toothed wheel 52,immediately upon which the spring 65 returns arm 48 clockwise to itsstarting position, the cushion 58 absorbing the shock of this springreturn of the parts. Rack member 78 returns to its starting position asa result of the regular reverse travel of carriage 30.

While I have shown and described a particular embodiment of my inventionas applied to one well known type of winding machine, it will beunderstood that the invention is readily adaptable to other typesandmakes of winding machines, and various modifications of my disclosedstructure may be made without departing from the invention, subject onlyto such limitations as may be expressly included in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. Bobbin marking mechanism comprising means for supporting and rotatinga bobbin, yarn uiding means movable in directions longitudinally of thebobbin for distributing yarn therealong, and means responsive tomovement of said yarn guiding means for applying a mark to the rotatingbobbin.

2. Bobbin marking mechanism comprising means for supporting. androtating a bobbin, means for guiding and distributing yarn in fillingrelation to the rotating bobbin, a member pivotally mounted toward oneend of the bobbin and movable on its pivot toward said bobbin, saidmember carrying a marking substance thereon, and means associated withsaid guiding and distributing means engageable with said member at apredetermined stage of distribution of yarn on the bobbin and operativeto move said member to bring said marking substance into markingrelation with the bobbin, and yieldable means acting on said member andoperative to move it away from the bobbin following a marking movementthereof.

3. Bobbin marking mechanism comprising a pivotally mounted member havinga marking substance carried thereon on one side of its pivot, a gearsegment on said member at the opposite side of said pivot, means forsupporting a bobbin adjacent to said marking substance on said member,yarn guiding means movable along the bobbin, and a rack movable withsaid yarn guiding means and engageable with said gear segment at apredetermined stage in the movement of the yarn guiding means, therebyto actuate said member in direction to bring said marking substance intomarking engagement with the bobbin.

4. Bobbin marking mechanism comprising a pivotally mounted member havinga marking substance carried thereon on one side of its pivot, a gearsegment on said member at the opposite side of said pivot, means forsupporting a bobbin adjacent to said marking substance on said member,yarn guiding means movable along the bobbin, a rack movable with saidyarn guiding means and engageable with said gear segment at apredetermined stage in the movement of the yarn guiding I means, therebyto actuate said member in direction to bring said marking substance.into marking engagement with the bobbin, and means for disengaging saidrack and gear segment following an actuation of said member.

5. In a winding machine having a rotating bobbin and yarn guiding anddistributing means movable along the bobbin, the combination therewithof means responsive to movement of said yarn guiding and distributingmeans for engaging the bobbin and applying thereto an identificationmark.

6. In a winding machine having a rotating bobbin and yarn guiding anddistributing means movable along the bobbin, the combination therewithof a bobbin marking member swingable into marking relation to thebobbin, and biased out of said relation,-and means for swinging saidmember into marking relation in opposition to its said bias, comprisinggear teeth on said member and a rack on said yarn guiding anddistributing means positioned for inter-engagement at a predeterminedstage in the movement of the yarn guiding and distributing means.

7. In a winding machine having a rotating bobbin and yarn guiding anddistributing means movable along the bobbin, the combination therewithof a bobbin marking member swingable into marking relation to the bobbinand biased out of said relation, means for swinging said member intomarking relation in opposition to its said bias, comprising an actuatormovable with the yarn guiding and distributing means and positioned foractuating engagement with said member at a predetermined stage in themovement of the yarn guiding and distributing means, and means fordisengaging the actuator following a bobbin-marking swing of saidmember.

8. In a winding machine having a rotating bobbin and yarn guiding meansmovable along the bobbin, the combination therewith of bobbin markingmeans movable into marking relation to the bobbin in response tomovement of said yarn guiding means, and resilient means acting on saidbobbin marking means to retract the same following a marking engagementthereof with the bobbin.

9. In a winding machine having a rotating bobbin and yarn guiding meansmovable along the bobbin. the combination therewith of means forapplying a circumferential identification mark on the bobbin, comprisinga pivoted marking memberswingable into marking relation to the bobbinand biased out Of said relation, an actuator movable with said yarnguiding means and positioned for engagement with said member to swing itinto the said marking relation, and a cam in the path of said actuatorand operative to disengage the actuator following a marking engagementof said member with the rotating bobbin.

10. In a winding machine having a horizontally disposed rotating bobbinand yarn distributing means movable along the bobbin, the combinationtherewith of a lever pivotally mounted toward one end of the bobbin,said lever having a mass of chalk on one side of its pivot and a gearsegment on the other side of said pivot, a rack mounted for movementwith said yarn distributing means, said rack being pivotally supportedand having a spring yieldingly maintaining it in generally horizontalposition in a plane for engagement with said gear segment at apredetermined stage in the movement of said yarn distributing means,thereby to actuate said lever to bring its chalk into marking engagementwith the bobbin, and a cam in the path of movement of the rack andoperative to depress the rack out of gear segment engagement following amarking of the bobbin.

HARRY LAMBERT.

